


Balloons

by theaveragebear



Series: Rhink Ficlets and Prompts [5]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, rhett and link as kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-25 23:44:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18712114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theaveragebear/pseuds/theaveragebear
Summary: Someone's missing from Link's birthday party.





	Balloons

**Author's Note:**

> Orginally posted here. Based on a prompt sent by the amazing missingparentheses.
> 
> .

Link sat on the front porch of his house watching a balloon drift up into the sky, further and further until it was nothing but a tiny speck against a bright blue backdrop. He and his mom had tied the balloons to the mailbox early that morning as a way of signifying to friends and family that this was the house with the party.

He’d just turned 10, and unlike all his previous—and subsequent—birthdays his mom had decided to throw him a party at the house. By this time, though, almost everyone had come and gone. All the kids had stuffed themselves with cake and cherry coke, the presents had been opened and the party games had been played.

Link was grateful for the party, it was undoubtedly the best one he’d ever had, but something was missing. Or, more accurately, someone. Rhett had never missed one of his birthdays before and had promised he’d be here for this one, too. The day before at school he’d given Link a solid high-five at the end of the day and told him he’d see him tomorrow.

But he never showed up. The invitation said noon to three o’clock, so Link kept checking the clock for the time. Fifteen minutes late was normal, lots of people showed up fifteen minutes late. But then it was thirty minutes, then an hour, then two. By three-fifteen most everyone had left, his aunt and grandma lingering behind to help his mom clean up. Link wandered out of the house mainly to get out of their way, but also to avoid hearing the inevitable gossip talk that happened every time his family got together. He hated it when they talked like that because they always talked over him and plus, he really didn’t know half the people they were talking about.

Rocking in the little swing on the porch as he watched the balloon drift away, he quietly wondered what he had done wrong. Was Rhett mad at him? Had he done or said something to make him not want to come to his party? Did he not want to be Link’s friend anymore? He wracked his brain, but he couldn’t think of anything he might’ve done or said to make Rhett angry. Maybe Rhett was sick, but Link begged his mom to call Rhett’s house and no one had answered. They wouldn’t have gone out if Rhett was sick, would they? Or maybe he was so sick he needed to go to the hospital. The thought of Rhett in the hospital made Link’s stomach churn. He felt like he might get sick himself.

Just as he was about to go back into the house and plead with his mom to call the McLaughlin’s again, he saw a bike come careening down his little dirt driveway. Rhett was riding so fast he had trouble braking, his tires sliding out from under him as he tumbled off the bike and onto the gravelly road.

Link jumped up to help him, wincing at Rhett’s skinned knees.

“Link! I’m so sorry. Did I miss the whole party?” Rhett tried to catch his breath as he spoke, sitting down on the swing and resting his head between his knees. “I tried to get here as fast as I could. You’re never gonna believe what happened, man. Oh, crap—“ Rhett stood and looked around him, exclaiming, “Where’d your present go?”

Link saw it—a little package wrapped in red and white paper, wedged under the back tire of Rhett’s bike—and told Rhett to stay put; he still hadn’t caught his breath and his knees were bleeding more than Link was comfortable with.

Present in hand, Link sat down next to Rhett on the swing, his eyes wide with curiosity.

“So…what happened?” Link looked at Rhett and smiled. Though Rhett was bleeding and had apparently been through some sort of terrible ordeal, Link was happy. He was happy Rhett was here, sharing a swing with him on his tenth birthday. Whether of not he’d made it to the party was no longer important, he was here now.

“Oh gosh, you’re not gonna believe it. My mom’s car broke down, like, one second we’re driving down the road and the next second the engine is on fire. There was smoke everywhere. We pretty much had to jump out of the car while it was still moving. Mom was scared it was gonna explode or something.”

“Did it? Explode?” Link hung on Rhett’s every word, he always loved it when Rhett told stories, he knew just how to make them sound more exciting than they were in real life.

“Nah, but it was close. So, we’re stuck on this road and there’s no cars coming from anywhere and it’s gotta be like five miles to the next town.”

“What’d y’all do?”

“We walked. For forever. We finally found a payphone and Mom called my Dad who called a tow truck. When we got home, Mom said I could ride my bike over and see if I’d missed the party.” Rhett paused, looked over at Link and nudged him with his elbow. “I really am sorry I missed it. How was it?”

“It was all right. You didn’t miss too much. Just some cake. Oh! There’s probably still some left. You want a piece?”

“Maybe in a minute. Open your present!”

Link turned the package over in his hands, feeling the weight of it. He ripped open the paper and discovered a black sketchbook and a package of colored pencils with 72 different colors.

“Wow! Thanks, Rhett, this is really cool.”

Rhett’s cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink, his eyes lighting up as Link opened the package of pencils.

“You like ‘em? You’re such a good drawer, you should draw more. And I always see you doodling on your papers at school, so I thought maybe you needed a book to draw in.”

Link blinked up at Rhett, it was his turn to nudge Rhett with his elbow. “You think I’m good at drawing?”

The light pink of Rhett’s cheeks deepened as Rhett nudged him back. “Yeah, man, ‘course I do. You’re the best.”

Both boys bashfully looked away from each other, hints of smiles lingering on their faces. They sat on the swing, trading more stories from the day until the sky began to turn a deep shade of purple and watched as the fireflies started to come out. Eventually the porch light flickered on and Link’s mom poked her head out to tell Rhett that his mom called to say he should head home.

Link waved to Rhett as he sped back up the driveway and out onto the road. He hugged the sketchbook and colored pencils tightly to his chest, thinking that it was the best present he had gotten all day. In fact, now that he knew Rhett hadn’t missed his party on purpose he decided that this was definitely his best birthday ever. 

In bed that night, sketchbook tucked under his pillow, he decided it was settled, being ten was going to be great. 


End file.
